Search:

India : a history : from the earliest civilisations to the boom of the twenty-first century / by Keay, John.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 619-632) and index.Fully revised with forty thousand new words that take the reader up to present-day India, John Keay's India: A History spans five millennia in a sweeping narrative that tells the story of the peoples of the subcontinent, from their ancient beginnings in the valley of the Indus to the events in the region today. In charting the evolution of the rich tapestry of cultures, religions, and peoples that comprise the modern nations of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, Keay weaves together insights from a variety of scholarly fields to create a rich historical narrative. Wide-ranging and authoritative, India: A History is a compelling epic portrait of one of the world's oldest and most richly diverse civilizations. --Book Description.
© ©2010., Grove Press : Distributed by Publishers Group West,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The Viking age : a reader / by McDonald, R. Andrew(Russell Andrew),1965-; Somerville, Angus A.,1943-;
Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, and tracing the astonishing development of the Viking age from the first foreign raids to the rise and fall of empires, this comprehensive reader is essential to an understanding of Viking history. Chroniclers record European horror in the face of the Viking onslaught. An Arab diplomat gives a gripping account of an encounter with Norsemen in Russia. Great warriors and kings of the period are heralded in Skaldic poetry. With unusual power, saga literature narrates the lives of Norse women and men at home and abroad. Brief introductions contextualize the translations and all unfamiliar terms are explained in the body of the text, making this an extremely readable and user-friendly introduction to the Viking age.1. The Scandinavian homelands : The voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan ; A description of the islands of the north -- 2. Scandinavian society : The Lay of Rig ; Politics in Harald Finehair's Norway ; Hoskulk buys a slave ; How the Hersir Erling treated his slaves -- 3. A glimpse of ninth-century Scandinavia : The life of Anskar -- 4. Early religion and belief : The Norse creation-myth ; Ragnarok: the doom of the gods ; A prophetess in Greenland ; Odin's wisdom and arts ; Odin welcomes Eirik Bloodax to Valhalla ; Odin hangs on Yggdrasil ; Odin and human sacrifice ; Sigurd, the Earl of Lade, sacrifices to the gods ; The temple at Uppsala ; A temple in Iceland ; King Harald Gormsson and the land-spirits ; Norse funeral practices ; The living dead -- 5. Women in the Viking age : Unn the Deep-minded takes control of her life ; Queen Gunnhild has her way with Hrut ; The prowess of Freydis, daughter of Eirik the Red ; A warrior-woman ; Gudrun drives her sons to take revenge ; Gudrun Osvifrsdaughter's incitement of her sons ; The goading of Hildigunn ; Betrothals from the Sagas ; Divorces from the Sagas -- 6. Viking warriors and their weapons : The accomplishments of a Viking warrior ; Berserkers and the berserk rage ; Weapons -- 7. Fjord-serpents: Viking ships : King Olaf Tryggvason builds the Long Serpent ; Harald Sigurdarson's splendid ship ; King Sverrir's Mariasud ; The great ships of King Hakon IV ; Animal heads on the prows of ships ; Sea-battles in the sagas -- 8. "Sudden and unforseeen attacks of Northmen" : On the causes of the Viking expansion ; Viking raids on England, 789-850/1 ; Alcuin's letter to King Athelred, 793 ; An English gospel book ransomed from the Vikings ; Viking raids on Ireland, 795-842 ; The martyrdom of Bolathmac, 825 ; Irish resistance to the Norsemen ; Franks and Vikings, 800-829 ; The Northmen in France, 843-865 ; The annals of St-Vast, 882-886 ; An account of the siege of Paris, 885-886 ; Vikings in the Iberian Peninsula --9. "The heathens stayed": from raiding to settlement : Viking activities in England, 851-900 ; The Vikings in Ireland, 845-917 ; Ketil Flatnose and his descendants in the Hebrides ; Earl Sigurd and the establishment of the Earldom of Orkney ; Runic inscriptions from Maes Howe, Mainland, Orkney ; Runic inscriptions from the Isle of Man ; Rollo obtains Normandy from the King of the Franks -- 10. Austrveg: the Viking road to the east : The Piraeus Lion ; The Rū̄s ; The Rūs attack Constantinople ; On the arrival of the Varangians ; A Muslim diplomat meets Viking merchants ; River routes to Constantinople ; A Norwegian soldier of fortune in the east ; Rūs expeditions to the Middle East -- 11. Into the western ocean, the faeroes, Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland : The islands in the Northern Ocean, ca 825 ; Sailing directions and distances in the North Atlantic ; The Western Ocean ; Adam of Bremen on Iceland ; Icelandic accounts of the discovery and settlement of Iceland ; Skallagrim's landtake in Iceland ; The settlement of Greenland ; The King's Mirror on Greenland ; Adam of Bremen on Vinland ; The Norse discovery of Vinland ; Thorfinn Karlsefni in Vinland -- 12. Viking life and death : Advice for sailors and merchants ; Egil in youth and old age ; Svein Asleifarson's Viking life ; The Jomsvikings meet their end ; The death of Gunnar ; The burning of Njal ; The death of Thormod Kolbrunarskald -- 13. From Odin to Christ : The conversion of the Danes under Harald Bluetooth ; Olaf Tryggvason and the conversion of Norway ; A poet abandons the old gods ; The christianization of Norway under Saint Olaf ; The conversion of the Icelanders ; The conversion of Greenland ; The conversion of Orkney ; Christianity in Sweden ; Christianity and the Church in Norway ; The travels of King Sigurd, Jerusalem-Farer -- 14. State-building at home and abroad : Harald Finehair and the unification of Norway ; State-making in Denmark: the jelling stone ; State-making in Denmark: unification and expansion ; Knut the Great and the North Sea empire ; The Earldom of Orkney at its zenith -- 15. The end of the Viking age : The Battle of Clontarf, 1014 ; The Battle of Stamford Bridge, 1066 ; The decline of the Earls of Orkney ; The Battle of Largs, 1263 -- Epilogue : Advice from Odin.Includes bibliographical references (p.495-497) and indexes.
Subjects: Vikings; Civilization, Viking; Northmen; Vikings; Civilisation viking; Normands;
© c2010., University of Toronto Press,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The new dictionary of cultural literacy / by Hirsch, E. D.(Eric Donald),1928-; Kett, Joseph F.; Trefil, James S.,1938-;
The Bible -- Mythology and folklore -- Proverbs -- Idioms -- World literature, philosophy, and religion -- Literature in English -- Conventions of written English -- Fine arts -- World history to 1550 -- World history since 1550 -- American history to 1865 -- American history since 1865 -- World politics -- American politics -- World geography -- American geography -- Anthropology, psychology, and sociology -- Business and economics -- Physical sciences and mathematics -- Earth sciences -- Life sciences -- Medicine and health -- Technology."In this fast-paced information age, how can Americans know what's really important and what's just a passing fashion? Now more than ever, we need a source that concisely sums up the knowledge that matters to Americans - the people, places, ideas, and events that shape our cultural conversation. With more than six thousand entries, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy is that invaluable source. Wireless technology. Gene therapy, NAFTA. In addition to the thousands of terms described in the original Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, here are more than five hundred new entries to bring Americans' essential knowledge bank up to date. Are you familiar with the digital divide, European Union, Kwanzaa, pheromones, Type A and Type B personalities, spam? Or, test your knowledge on cultural icons that have stood the test of time: Odysseus, Leaves of Grass, Cleopatra, Winston Churchill, the Taj Mahal, and many, many more. Numerous original entries have been revised to reflect the many recent changes in world history and politics, American literature, and, especially, science and technology."--Book jacket.
Subjects: Civilization; English language; Encyclopedias and dictionaries.; Civilization; English language; Civilisation; Anglais (Langue);
© 2002., Houghton Mifflin,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Grown up digital : how the net generation is changing your world / by Tapscott, Don,1947-;
Includes bibliographical references (p. [345]-359) and index.Chances are you know a person between the ages of 11 and 30. You've seen them doing five things at once: texting friends, downloading music, uploading videos, watching a movie on a two-inch screen, and doing who-knows-what on Facebook or MySpace. They're the first generation to have literally grown up digital--and they're part of a global cultural phenomenon that's here to stay. The bottom line is this: if you understand the Net Generation, you will understand the future. If you're a Baby Boomer or Gen-Xer this is your field guide. A fascinating inside look at the Net Generation, this book is inspired by a $4 million private research study. The author has surveyed more than 11,000 young people. Instead of a bunch of spoiled "screenagers" with short attention spans and zero social skills, he discovered a remarkably bright community which has developed revolutionary new ways of thinking, interacting, working, and socializing. This work also reveals: how the brain of the Net Generation processes information , seven ways to attract and engage young talent in the workforce, seven guidelines for educators to tap the Net Gen potential, parenting 2.0: there's no place like the new home, Citizen Net: How young people and the Internet are transforming democracy. Today's young people are using technology in ways you could never imagine. Instead of passively watching television, the "Net Geners" are actively participating in the distribution of entertainment and information. For the first time in history, youth are the authorities on something really important. And they're changing every aspect of our society, from the workplace to the marketplace, from the classroom to the living room, from the voting booth to the Oval Office.
Subjects: Generation Y.; Technology and youth.; Computers and civilization.; Computer networks.; Technologie et jeunesse.; Ordinateurs et civilisation.; Réseaux d'ordinateurs.; Génération Internet.; Neue Technologie.; Jugend.;
© c2009., McGraw-Hill,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

After the ice : a global human history, 20,000-5000 BC / by Mithen, Steven J.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.The beginning -- The birth of history -- The world at 20,000 BC -- Western Asia -- Fires and flowers -- Village life in the oak woodland -- On the banks of the Euphrates -- One thousand years of drought -- The founding of Jericho -- Pictograms and pillars -- In the valley of ravens -- The town of ghosts -- Heaven and hell at ÇatlahoÌyuÌk -- Three days on Cyprus -- Europe -- Pioneers in northern lands -- With reindeer hunters -- At Star Carr -- Last of the cave painters -- Coastal catastrophe -- Two villages in Southeast Europe -- Islands of the dead -- At the frontier -- A mesolithic legacy -- A Scottish envoi -- The Americans -- Searching for the first Americans -- American past in the present -- On the banks of Chinchihuapi -- Explorers in a restless landscape -- Clovis hunters on trial -- Virginity reconsidered -- Herders and the 'Christ-child' -- A double-take in the Oaxaca Valley -- To Koster -- Salmon fishing and the gift of history -- Greater Australia and East Asia -- A lost world revealed -- Body sculpture at Kow Swamp -- Across the arid zone -- Fighting men and a serpent's birth -- Pigs and gardens in the highlands -- Lonesome in Sundaland -- Down the Yangtze -- With the Jomon -- Summer in the Arctic -- South Asia -- A passage through India -- A long walk across the Hindu Kush -- Vultures of the Zagros -- Approaching civilisation in Mesopotamia -- Africa -- Baked fish by the Nile -- On Lukenya Hill -- Frogs' legs and ostrich eggs -- A South African tour -- Thunderbolts in the tropics -- Sheep and cattle in the Sahara -- Farmers in the Nile Valley and beyond.
Subjects: Prehistoric peoples.; Hunting and gathering societies.; Primitive societies.; Human beings; Antiquities, Prehistoric.; Civilization, Ancient.; Homme preÌhistorique.; Chasseurs-cueilleurs.; Homme primitif.; Homme; AntiquiteÌs preÌhistoriques.; Civilisation ancienne.; Archeologie.; Prehistorie.; Internationalisatie.; Jagers en verzamelaars.; Paleolithicum.; Mesolithicum.; Neolithicum.;
© 2004., Harvard University Press,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The history of civilization in Europe / by Guizot, M.(François),1787-1874.; Hazlitt, William,1811-1893.; Siedentop, Larry.;
Includes bibliographical references (p. xxxviii).
© 1997., Penguin Books,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Pacific worlds : a history of seas, peoples, and cultures / by Matsuda, Matt K.;
Includes bibliographical references (p. [379]-412) and index.Introduction: encircling the ocean -- Civilization without a center -- Trading rings and tidal empires -- Straits, sultans and treasure fleets -- Conquered colonies and Iberian ambitions -- Island encounters and the Spanish lake -- Sea changes and spice islands -- Samurai, priests, and potentates -- Pirates and raiders of the eastern seas -- Asia, America, and the age of the galleon -- Navigators of Polynesia and paradise -- Gods and sky piercers -- Extremities of the Great Southern Continent -- The world that Canton made -- Flags, treaties, and gunboats -- Migrations, plantations, and the people trade -- Imperial destinies on foreign shores -- Traditions of engagement and ethnography -- War stories from the Pacific theater -- Prophets and rebels of decolonization -- Critical mass for the earth and ocean -- Specters of memory, agents of development -- Repairing legacies, claiming histories -- Afterword: world heritage."Asia, the Pacific Islands and the coasts of the Americas have long been studied separately. This essential single-volume history of the Pacific traces the global interactions and remarkable peoples that have connected these regions with each other and with Europe and the Indian Ocean, for millennia. From ancient canoe navigators, monumental civilisations, pirates and seaborne empires, to the rise of nuclear testing and global warming, Matt Matsuda ranges across the frontiers of colonial history, anthropology and Pacific Rim economics and politics, piecing together a history of the region. The book identifies and draws together the defining threads and extraordinary personal narratives which have contributed to this history, showing how localised contacts and contests have often blossomed into global struggles over colonialism, tourism and the rise of Asian economies. Drawing on Asian, Oceanian, European, American, ancient and modern narratives, the author assembles a fascinating Pacific region from a truly global perspective"--
© 2012., Cambridge University Press,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The encyclopedia of the horse / by Hartley Edwards, Elwyn,1927-2007.; Langrish, Bob.; Houghton, Kit.;
Get up close to 150 of the world's most famous horse and pony breeds and find out what makes each one special. Topics also include: the evolution of these amazing creatures, from their origins to their contribution to our civilisation; the latest on farriers, feeding, management, behaviour, training techniques and equipment; and the latest trends in equestrian sports, from dressage to horse trials.
Subjects: Horses; Horse breeds; Horsemanship; Horses;
© c2008., DK,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

A brief history of entrepreneurship : the pioneers, profiteers, and racketeers who shaped our world / by Carlen, Joe.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Introduction -- "One shekel of your private silver" -- The pirates of Phoenicia -- The reluctant Romans -- An enterprising faith -- Flying money and capitalist monks -- Western Europe and a 'new world' of profit -- Captains of the revolution -- The land of [entrepreneurial] opportunity -- Flattening the world and colonizing space -- Conclusion."A Brief History of Entrepreneurship charts how the pursuit of profit by private individuals has been a prime mover in revolutionising civilisation. Entrepreneurs often butt up against processes, technologies, social conventions, and even laws. So they circumvent, innovate, and violate to obtain what they want. This creative destruction has brought about overland and overseas trade, colonisation, and a host of revolutionary technologies-from caffeinated beverages to the personal computer-that have transformed society. Consulting rich archival sources, including some that have never before been translated, Carlen maps the course of human history through nine episodes when entrepreneurship reshaped our world. Highlighting the most colourful characters of each era, he discusses Mesopotamian merchants' creation of the urban market economy; Phoenician merchant-sailors intercontinental trade, which came to connect Africa, Asia, and Europe; Chinese tea traders' invention of paper money; the colonisation of the Americas; and the current "flattening" of the world's economic playing field. Yet the pursuit of profit hasn't always moved us forward. From slavery to organised crime, Carlen explores how entrepreneurship can sometimes work at the expense of others. He also discusses the new entrepreneurs who, through the nascent space tourism industry, are leading humanity to a multiplanetary future. By exploring all sides of this legacy, Carlen brings much-needed detail to the role of entrepreneurship in revolutionising civilisation."--Book jacket.
Subjects: Commerce; Entrepreneurship; Businesspeople;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Eruptions that shook the world / by Oppenheimer, Clive.;
"What does it take for a volcanic eruption to really shake the world? Did volcanic eruptions extinguish the dinosaurs? Did they help humans to evolve and conquer the world, only to decimate their populations with a super-eruption 73,000 years ago? Did they contribute to the ebb and flow of ancient empires, the French Revolution and the rise of fascism in Europe in the 19th century? These are some of the claims made for volcanic cataclysm. Volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer explores rich geological, historical, archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records (such as ice cores and tree rings) to tell the stories behind some of the greatest volcanic events of the past quarter of a billion years. He shows how a forensic approach to volcanology reveals the richness and complexity behind cause and effect, and argues that important lessons for future catastrophe risk management can be drawn from understanding events that took place even at the dawn of human origins" A spellbinding exploration of the history's greatest volcanic events and their impacts on the history of humankind.--"Fire & brimstone: how volcanoes work 'Some volcanos are in a state of incessant eruption; some, on the contrary, remain for centuries in a condition of total outward inertness, and return again to the same state of apparent extinction after a single vivid eruption of short duration; while others exhibit an infinite variety of phases intermediate between the extreme of vivacity and sluggishness.' [1RFA-001] The Earth is cooling down! This has nothing to do with contemporary global warming of the atmosphere and surface. I refer instead to the Earth's interior - the source of the molten rocks erupted by volcanoes throughout the planet's 4.567 billion year history."--Includes bibliographical references and index.Fire and Brimstone: How Volcanoes Work. Origins of volcanoes: the mantle ; Magma ; Eruption parameters -- Eruption Styles, Hazards, and Ecosystem Impacts. Eruption clouds ; Tephra falls ; Pyroclastic currents & caldera formation ; Lava flows and domes ; Rock avalanches and mudflows ; Tsunami ; Earthquakes ; Volcanic gas emissions ; Recovery of ecosystems ; Volcanic disasters -- Volcanoes and Global Climate Change. Pinatubo's global cloud ; Atmospheric and climatic change ; Recipe for a climate-forcing eruption -- Forensic Volcanology. Reading the rocks ; Ice cores ; Tree rings -- Relics, Myths, and Chronicles. Archaeological perspectives ; Oral traditions ; Crepuscular lights, cannonades, and chronicles ; Volcano forensics: a case study -- Killer Plumes. Mass extinctions ; More about LIPs ; LIP origins ; LIPs, bolides, and extinctions: the coincidences ; Kill mechanisms ; Hot LIPs and cold SLIPs -- Human Origins. The East African Rift Valley ; The first humans ; The Middle Stone Age and modern humans -- The Ash-Giant/Sulphur-Dwarf. The eruption ; Sulphur yield of the eruption ; Climate change ; The human story ; Focus on India -- European Volcanism in Prehistory. The Campanian eruption and the human revolution in Palaeolithic Europe ; 'Cultural devolution' and the Laacher See eruption ; Eruption of Santorini and the decline of the Minoan civilisation -- The Rise of Teotihuacán. Popocatépetl ; The Ilopango eruption -- Dark Ages: Dark Nature? The mystery cloud of 536 CE ; Veils and whips -- The Haze Famine. The eruption ; Gas emissions and aerosol veil ; Weather and climate ; The haze famine ; Long reach of the eruption -- The Last Great Subsistence Crisis in the Western World. Sumbawa before the disaster ; The eruption ; Atmospheric and climate impacts ; Human tragedy ; Global reach of the eruption -- Volcanic Catastrophe Risk. Three catastrophe scenarios ; Risk control ; Global warming: fake volcanoes and real eruptions ; Shaken but not stirred -- Large Eruptions. The twenty-five largest documented Holocene eruptions.Machine generated contents note: Preface; 1. Fire and brimstone: how volcanoes work; 2. Eruption styles, hazards and ecosystem impacts; 3. Volcanoes and global climate change; 4. Forensic volcanology; 5. Relics, myths and chronicles; 6. Killer plumes; 7. Human origins; 8. The ash-giant/sulphur-dwarf; 9. European volcanism in prehistory; 10. The rise of Teotihuacán; 11. Dark Ages: dark nature?; 12. The Haze famine; 13. The last great subsistence crisis in the western world; 14. Volcanic catastrophe risk; Appendix A. Volcano trumps: notable eruptions of the past 10,000 years; Appendix B. Further reading; Index.
Subjects: Volcanism; Volcanism; Volcanology.;
© 2011., Cambridge University Press,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI